We brought this book back for one of my sons as a Christmas gift this past year. It's is packed full of great pictures and short write-ups about all things interesting to little boys. It has survival tips, how to make a tent, basic first aid, field games to play, decoders and codes to make... all sorts of various things for the boys in your life. One of the more popular "adventures" in the book with my boys has been the Build-A-Pond-In-Your-Backyard adventure. Much to their dismay, they haven't been able to do this particular activity. Because we already live next to a small lake, the water table is quite high under our grass. As well, the idea of digging a large pit, filling it with a plastic material, and then having standing water in it---ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes in our lovely tropical climate---just isn't appealing to me and my husband. Not to mention, we rent this house, and we're pretty sure this kind of project should be passed by our landlord. So it is just a no-go for now.
In any case, I bought our homeschool a laminating machine last weekend! This little tool is absolutely amazing! Who knew one could make so many different projects, and that there were endless things to laminate around the house. :) One of my boys wanted me to make him a "Karate Suduko" game, which he learned about in his trusty Boys Book of Adventure book. So we went ahead and created it. And I got to laminate it! Fun times.
Playing Karate Suduko on our coffee table, amidst a pile of mini jigsaw puzzles they did during a read aloud morning.
As for reading aloud; today we finished Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. We have owned this book for years, but I hadn't yet had the chance to read it to the kids. My girls had already read it, but they were keen to hear it aloud. My boys enjoyed it; I enjoyed it; we laughed. I highly recommend this little book. It is so cleverly written. Without realizing it, the kids are learning about how to tell great stories and even about literary elements they should incorporate into their own work. Honestly, I definitely judged this book by its cover when we first got it. The cover art made me think "twaddle," but that couldn't have been further from the truth.
We had resumed Core B+C (the World History Condensed from Sonlight) several weeks ago after we finished our Canada's Natives studies from Donna Ward Northwoods Press. But, as is usually the case during a school break, I found myself researching once again language arts solutions. As much as I have been a faithful "Sonlighter" for all seven years of our homeschool, it has become more and more complicated as we added each child into our schedule. Yes, the curriculum is written to span across a few ages, however, the difference between my 1st and 6th graders has been difficult to deal with while using Sonlight. This would be a non-issue if I only had two kids in two or three years.
So, after watching many YouTube videos, reading blogs, and trying to research as much as I could... I took the plunge, and made a BIG CHANGE in some of our curriculum this year. Basically, we have switched from Sonlight Language Arts, once again. (A couple of years ago we went to BraveWriter, but couldn't stick with it.) I stumbled upon what looks like a fantastic program that mixes art appreciation, geography, poetry, grammar, and creative writing all into one. The Good and The Beautiful. A week into the program, and my girls are loving it. My 3rd grader wrote her first essay this week, and then I found her tonight writing another "essay" in bed. My 6th grader is really enjoying the variety of the lessons she's already experienced. My youngest son is also really enjoying his lessons.
I think I may have found the solution to some of my issues with incorporating everyone into our history studies as well. The Good and The Beautiful writes a history program that can be taught family style with different assignments for different grades. Bingo! Another plus, for me, is that each year of the history program, does a sweep through history, from ancient to modern history. So you're not stuck studying ancient civilizations for a whole year. For me, this is a huge bonus. I love the idea of doing a sweep through history in one year, and then building on it more the next year. Besides keeping things interesting, I also don't feel bound to a 4-year program. If we switch out of it for some reason next year, we've still covered history in one year. Being Canadian, it's not so heavy that I can't incorporate our Canadian history material into it also. Another plus.
On My Side Table
I read Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train a few years back. Enjoyed it. This book is historical, artsy, and quirky.
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